An Englishman's Tale of Adventure and Discovery, Giger Art and Friendship

Friday, 13 December 2013

This, to me, was an unforgettable occurrence and
coupled with the hotel that all of this took place in being named ‘Splendid’, I
find it unavoidable to say, and to see, that all of this was indeed a ‘Splendid
Coincidence’.

Later that evening, Iretraced some of my earlier footsteps along one ofthe old cobbled streets and found what
I was told to be one of the few remaining internet cafés in Zurich, where I sat
and relayed that afternoon’s events and revelations, via email, to Les Barany
in New York.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Awakening the next day, it was with a more defined
sense of purpose and with a feeling of empowerment that I began my journeys of
Monday, 19th of March 2007.

Not my first of Zurich trips of course, but these
adventures that lay ahead were to allow me benefit gained from personal
invitation.

So, to begin my discoveries, I travelled first to the
home of one of the world’s most prominent collectors of Giger Art, Marco
Witzig.

Marco is also one half of the collaboration that gives
us ‘The Giger Work Catalogue’ which was founded in 2007 with Matthias Belz and
is without doubt a most comprehensive and detailed database of HR Giger’s two
dimensional and three dimensional Work.

I was met at one of Zurich’s suburban railway stations,
by Marco, at exactly the time he had told me that the train would arrive there.

We walked to Marco’s home and entered what I would
describe as being a Giger collector’s utopia.

I remember that we drank coffee on a sheltered balcony
outside as a shower of very large hail stones descended, between one and two
centimetres in diameter, clattering on all surfaces around us as they landed heavily before we returned to
the collection inside.

Much to my delight, I was given detailed descriptions
of works by HR Giger and their histories as Marco delivered his own private
seminar in the surroundings of his extensive and amazing collection, within his
home.

Later that afternoon, it was from Marco’s home that I
dialled a telephone number given to me personally by HR Giger whilst in the
restaurant in Basel only two nights earlier and, with this, Giger and I shared
a short conversation to finalise what would be my arrival at their home of Carmen
and him.

Equipped with a street map given to me by Marco to
guide me through the maze of streets in which the Gigers’ home was to be found,
I travelled by train from Marco’s home suburb of Zurich to the Gigers’ home
suburb of Zurich.

It was with what seemed to be considerable ease that I
found my way to the Gigers’ home and was warmly greeted by Carmen at their
door.

I remember, vividly, how instantly I was made to feel
so welcomed into their home, by Carmen.

Walking together through to the kitchen, I was
introduced to Ronald Brandt and to André Faust, both seated at the table and
taking a short break from the work that they were involved in for HR
Giger.

I discovered shortly after this first meeting that
Ronald and André were working together on a previously ordered black resin
Harkonnen Chair, in HR Giger’s atelier.

Ronald Brandt had been working for HR Giger since the
early 1990s, under instruction and as the Sculptor who aided to bring Giger’s
two dimensional designs into the physical reality of three dimensional being.

At the time of my visit, André Faust was working
alongside Ronald Brandt as his sculpting assistant for the works that were
being brought to life in HR Giger’s atelier, situated behind the Zodiac
Fountain in HR Giger’s garden.

The first two hours of my visit seemed just to
evaporate, as if time itself no longer existed or registered as the entity by
which we are so often bound, in everyday life.
These were indeed, exceptional days.

It was during those first two hours that Carmen guided
me through some of the parts of their home; we talked as we walked, pausing at
various locations to discuss what I was being shown, amazed and enthralled by
all that surrounded me.

I had been told by Carmen that HR Giger was working in his
room; however, it was whilst walking through those seemingly timeless passages
that we all met together, in one part of the house.

Poised and dignified, our warm and cordial meeting was
short but affectionate; to be fondly remembered although difficult to
describe. Here we venture into the
realms of my own personal experiences and their affects upon me; but not
necessarily to be revealed or shared in a public domain.

Early evening soon arrived and with it came the
generous invitation to stay for dinner. With
acceptance of course, I settled into a seat at the kitchen table where Carmen
and I shared further conversations on Giger Art and its affects upon us both.

A knock on the door and into the kitchen walked Alf
Battig and Flaminio Gaggioni; familiar faces from recent encounters, laden with
cartons of Chinese food for us to share between us.

So, there was I, on a darkening evening in March 2007,
sharing a table in the house of HR Giger with his wife Carmen and in the
company of truly uniquely talented people; artists and sculptors and lovers of
all.

To be complimented upon my photographic endeavours on
previously captured exhibitions of Giger’s works, by this small and select
gathering of which I was a part, was probably more than I ever expected, but
with this too came a sense of high achievement and personal satisfaction.

Finally satisfied by the food and wine that we shared
at that table, a small group of us ventured upstairs for our evening’s entertainment
of watching ‘The Blair Witch Project’ together.

Within the room where we watched that film, there hung
behind one of the leather settees on which we sat, a painting that I could have
only dreamed of viewing for myself, before that time.

It was while I had previously seen a draft version of
the book ‘The Giger Work Catalogue’ that I found an apparently unfinished
version of “Under the Earth” which instantly caught my eye and attentions; and
on that evening of March 2007, there I was standing before it, dwarfed by its
image and its overwhelming presence of purity and beauty.

Inevitably, the evening’s end arrived and I was offered
a spare seat with Alf and Flaminio for the journey by car, returning to
Zurich’s central location and to that of my hotel in Neiderdorf.

With the knowledge of my Zurich trip approaching the
end of its time allowed to me, it was with understanding of this aspect that
Carmen had invited me to return to their home on the following day, my last day
in Zurich.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tuesday, 20th of March 2007, I walked
away from the location of my ‘Splendid Coincidence’ without being able to wish
a farewell to Mia, as she was not on the premises at the time of my early
departure.

I retraced my footsteps for a final time along the
cobbled stones of the old streets of Neiderdorf, as my luggage and I trundled
our way toward Zurich’s main railway station where I deposited the majority of
my luggage before heading once more to the home of the Gigers.

Welcomed again by Carmen into their house, I walked
through to the kitchen where I was offered strong coffee and pear bread for my
morning’s delight.

Unlike my visit of the previous evening, I now had the
benefit of Tuesday’s daylight and with this came the opportunity to capture on
celluloid some of my surroundings and the activities therein.

So, following the suggestion from Carmen, I walked
through a set of glass double doors and made my way through HR Giger’s garden
and into his atelier, found beyond the Zodiac Fountain.

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All Paintings, Sculptures and Designs by HR Giger are the sole Copyright of the Artist. My Photographs, of Copyrighted Artworks by HR Giger, are posted in this Blog with full Regard and Respect to the Artist, and for the purpose of further promoting the Work of HR Giger.

Written Accounts

All text is written from the memories of my own personal experience, except factual content regarding historical events or buildings, where relevant research has been undertaken and re-worded for these written chapters.

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